The combined death toll from the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet rose to 750 on Sunday, with more than 3,000 people still missing, authorities said.
A fresh flood alert was issued after river levels rose again, while Tibetan authorities warned of a new barrier lake forming behind landslide debris.
Several scientists believe a glacier collapse in the Himalayas may have triggered Wednesday’s disaster, sending huge volumes of water down a river valley.
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What’s the latest on the floods?
Nepal’s disaster authority put the number killed on its side of the border at 734, while Chinese state media confirmed 16 dead in Tibet, an autonomous region of China.
Chinese authorities said the dead included over a hundred Nepalis and people from more than a dozen countries.
The Nepalese disaster agency issued a warning for fresh floods on Sunday and told residents around the Bhotekoshi River to remain on high alert as water levels rose.
Flood warning notices were sent to residents’ phones, advising them to move to higher ground.
On the Tibet side, Chinese state media said monitoring drones on Saturday night had picked up a new lake forming from a barrier created by a landslide near the Gyirong border port.
Rescue teams near the Gyirong border port were moved because of the risk of the barrier bursting.
Hydropower workers still trapped in tunnels
Meanwhile, Nepalese rescuers are trying to reach more than 100 hydropower workers believed trapped and still alive in tunnels swamped by flood debris.
Rescue teams are focusing on several hydropower projects on the Trishuli River, where more than 900 workers went missing during the floods.
At one of the sites on Saturday night, army teams used drills to break into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel to pump oxygen and deliver a camera inside.
Nepal’s prime minister’s office said that teams faced “continuous rainfall and difficult conditions” but had worked nonstop overnight, “making tireless efforts to search for and rescue those who may be trapped.”
Rescue effort bolstered by neighbors
Specialized teams from India and China have joined the rescue effort, along with Nepal’s mountain rescue squad, which helps climbers on the world’s highest peaks, including Everest.
Nepalese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said the country needed assistance in such areas as tunnel rescue, DNA testing and identifying the victims.
The US State Department wrote on X that it would provide $3.6 million (€3.1 million) in “life-saving humanitarian assistance” to Nepal, including up to three months of emergency food aid for up to 10,000 flood-affected households.
The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people are likely to have been affected by the disaster.
Edited by: Natalie Muller
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